Bobby Lent

Bobby Lent grew up in Burlingame and Hillsborough. He met his wife Fran at the Brandeis-Bardin Summer College Institute in the Simi Valley in 1975, and their participation at Brandeis-Bardin lead to an increased Jewish commitment and observance. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, Bobby began working as a CPA with a Big 8 accounting firm. He soon realized he was more interested in the business technology field, and returned to Harvard Business School for an MBA. After Harvard, Fran and Bobby moved back to the Peninsula and Bobby began a marketing career in the high tech world. Soon, Bobby was focusing on the emerging Internet market developing in the Silicon Valley. In 1995, Bobby became an Entrepreneur in Residence at Crosspoint Ventures and conceived the idea of a business to business internet company. Along with his co-founders, he launched Ariba. The Ariba Network is a strategic component of business to business internet commerce, and is the leading software company in the world for Enterprise Spend Management. Bobby retired from Ariba in 2001 to focus on his children, Bradley and Hannah, and devote time to the founding of Kehillah Jewish High School.

In 2003, Bobby launched HillsVen, a seed venture firm focused on Israeli startups. As a result of his focus on Israeli high tech companies, Bobby travels to Israel frequently. After spending several summers there with their children, Fran and Bobby acquired “a piece of the Rock,” a home in Jerusalem. In spring 2008, just after the birth of Roz, their new daughter (and future member of Kehillah’s Class of 2025), the family moved to Jerusalem for 6 months so that Brad and Hannah could attend an Israeli school for a semester.